Von Freeman

All Music Guide:

Not nearly so famous as his son Chico Freeman (also a tenor saxophonist), Von Freeman is nevertheless equally -- if not more -- accomplished as a jazz musician. Von Freeman, while not per se a free jazz player, does exhibit traits commonly associated with the avant-garde: a roughly-hewn, vocalic tone; a flexible, somewhat imprecise approach to rhythm; and a fanciful harmonic concept. The son of a ragtime-loving policeman and guitar-playing housewife, Freeman himself began playing music around the age of two, beginning on the family piano. He was surrounded by music from a young age; his maternal grandfather and uncle were guitarists, and his brothers George and Bruz also became jazz musicians (on guitar and drums, respectively). At the age of seven, Freeman made a primitive saxophone by removing the horn from his parents' Victrola and boring holes in it. Shortly thereafter he began playing clarinet, then C-melody saxophone. Louis Armstrong was an early influence.

Freeman attended Chicago's DuSable High School, where his band director was the famed educator Captain Walter Dyett. He also learned harmony from the school's chorus director, Mrs. Bryant Jones. Freeman worked for about a year with Horace Henderson's Orchestra (l940-1941). He played in a Navy band while in the military (1941-1945). Following that, he played in the house band at Chicago's Pershing Ballroom (1946-1950), and for a time with Sun Ra (1948-1949). While at the Pershing, he played with many of the top jazz musicians who passed through town, including Charlie Parker. Freeman developed an underground reputation among Chicago-area musicians, and purportedly influenced members of the city's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Freeman seldom left Chicago and recorded infrequently, therefore never achieving a great measure of fame.

Freeman recorded with Milt Trenier for Cadet in the mid-'60s; Rahsaan Roland Kirk produced a Freeman session for Atlantic in 1972. In the late '70s (as his son Chico became well-known) Von was discovered by a somewhat-wider audience. In 1982, Chico and Von shared a Columbia LP with pianist Ellis Marsalis and his sons Wynton and Branford (Fathers & Sons). In the '90s Freeman recorded for the Steeplechase and Southport labels. Freeman is one of the great individualists of the tenor saxophone, and remained creatively vital through the end of the millennium.

Wikipedia:

Earle Lavon Freeman Sr. (born October 3, 1923, Chicago, Illinois) is an American hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist. He is the father of jazz saxophonist Chico Freeman.

Biography

As a young child Freeman was exposed to jazz--his father, George, was a close friend of Louis Armstrong with Armstrong even living at the Freeman house when he first arrived in Chicago. . Freeman learned to play the saxophone as a child and at DuSable High School, where his band director was Walter Dyett. He began his professional career at age 16 in Horace Henderson's Orchestra. He was drafted into the Navy during World War II and played for a Navy band while in the service.

After his return to Chicago, where he has stayed ever since, he played with his brothers George Freeman on guitar and Bruz (Eldridge) Freeman (who died in 2006 aged 85 in Hawaii) on drums at the Pershing Hotel Ballroom. Various leading jazzmen such as Charlie Parker, Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie played there with the Freemans as the backing band. In the early 1950s, Von played in Sun Ra's band.

Von Freeman's first venture into the recording studio took place in 1954, backing a vocal group called The Maples for Al Benson's Blue Lake label. He appeared on Andrew Hill's second single on the Ping label in 1956, followed by some recording for Vee-Jay with Jimmy Witherspoon and Al Smith in the late fifties, and a recorded appearance at a Charlie Parker tribute concert in 1970.

It was not until 1972 that Freeman first recorded under his own name, the album Doin' It Right Now with the support of Roland Kirk. His next effort was a marathon session in 1975 released over 2 albums by Nessa. Since then he has lived, played regularly and recorded in Chicago, his recordings including 3 albums with his son, the tenorist Chico Freeman and You Talkin' To Me with 22-year old saxophonist Frank Catalano, following their successful appearance at the Chicago Jazz Festival in 1999.

Freeman is considered a founder of the "Chicago School" of jazz tenorists along with Gene Ammons, Johnny Griffin and Clifford Jordan. His music has been described as "wonderfully swinging and dramatic" featuring a "large rich sound".

He has a regular Tuesday night set and jam session at the New Apartment Lounge on Chicago's south side, featuring quartet members Mike Allemana (guitar), Matt Ferguson (bass), and Michael Raynor (drums). Von can also be heard at Andy's Jazz Club on select weekends with Ben Paterson (piano), Dan Anderson (bass), Betty Reynolds (voice), and Michael Raynor (drums).

"Vonski," as he is known by his jazz fans, was recently selected to receive the nation's highest jazz honor for the class of 2011-2012, the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters award.